State officials dispute Utah report on mentally ill

FOI AT WORK!
An AP report compiled with numbers obtained through the FOIA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicate that Utah has the highest rate increase in younger (22-64) mentally ill nursing home residents. However the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health denies that there's any way that Utah saw a 78 percent increase in younger mentally ill patients in nursing homes between 2002 and 2008. Only one state in the nation, however, saw a decline: Minnesota.

The number of young and middle-aged mentally ill individuals in nursing homes in Utah grew at the fastest pace in the nation during the past seven years, according to an Associated Press study.

But state mental health officials dispute the study. Robert Snarr, manager of state adult programs with Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said statistics kept by the state do not match the AP study. There has been no noticeable increase in demand for nursing home care for the mentally ill in Utah, he said.

According to the study, the Beehive State saw a 78 percent increase in the number of seriously mentally ill people between the ages of 22 and 64 living in state nursing homes between 2002 and 2008.

More here.

Nursing Home Records Paing Grim Picture

An extremely detailed and well-reported series on nursing home standards in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel revolves around an FOI-driven database of 20,000 pages of reports...Poston, by the way, is a Mizzou alum (shameless plug):

For many people approaching the end of their lives — frail, ill and often suffering from some form of dementia — the final refuge is a nursing home. In many cases, the care they and younger, disabled patients receive in those homes is satisfactory, sometimes even excellent.

Unfortunately, an extensive Journal Sentinel investigation has revealed that too many nursing homes in Wisconsin are failing to properly care for some of society's most vulnerable members. And when that happens, the results can be catastrophic.

Like the 87-year-old woman who died of an allergic reaction to a drug that, as her chart clearly indicated, she should never have been given. Or the 45-year-old man who suffocated 45 minutes after he vainly requested a nurse to suction his tracheotomy tube.

Those were just two of the 56 deaths of patients in Wisconsin nursing homes since 2005 that resulted in dozens of homes being cited for serious violations.

Although none of the nursing home inspection reports examined by the Journal Sentinel's Mary Zahn and Ben Poston concluded that the 56 deaths were the direct result of poor care, the reports did document how inadequate training and lack of supervision of nursing home staff along with other problems contributed to a disturbing rise in injuries, including broken bones and bruises.

More here.